I have leased a little peice of property to put some cows on and I need a small temporary shelter of some kind (lockable) to put my tractor in untill I get the materials to build a permanent barn. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

-- Brad H. (FIRE_RESCUE126@HOTMAIL.COM), March 31, 2002

Answers

What price range do you call cheap? You can go with the small pre-built outbuildings that most home stores sell. Some of those are big enough for animals and big enogh for a tractor.

I have seen some nice multi stall 3sided barns made out of old mobile homes. an old home gutted "human" things, cut the sides out use 4x4 post to hold up one side. Use a towing company to move it into place to save a few more dollars. YOu might also check out the local trucking companies. They often have 40ft trailers forsale cheap. Usually a couple coats of mobile home topcoat will keep the roof from leaking. They are plenty big enough for storage and animals.

-- gary (gws@columbus.rr.com), March 31, 2002.

Sea container?

-- Ross (amulet@istar.ca), March 31, 2002.

We built a plastic barn. It's based on a greenhouse design we build about 7 years ago, except with a lot of vents. It has lasted through it's first Maine winter. In side it is wonderful for the animals. It cost us around $400 to build it. Lockable? Probably not. Cheap and temp? yep.

-- Mary R (cntryfolk@ime.net), March 31, 2002.

Around here there are companies which rent portable storage either in the form of land/sea/air containers as mentioned earlier or semi trailers you can have delivered and set without the tandems so they're close to ground level. In either case a small area in front of the door(s) can be built up with 8' lumber pieces set in steps to give you something of a ramp. This would be secure, lockable and as temporary as you want. I hope this helps.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), March 31, 2002.

If you want to go really cheap, how about salvaging used materials? Used pallets have alot of wood. Anyone tearing down an old house anywhere? Interior/exterior solid core doors can provide some outstanding building panels. Someone posted here about using old garage doors for building projects. Depending upon where you live, you might be able to find a large scale construction project in the works. They tend to throw out massive amounts of construction materials. You might also try some local yards about damaged material that they could sell at reduced rates. If you are creative enough, I am sure you can find enough materials to complete your project.

-- clove (clovis97@Yahoo.com), March 31, 2002.

Brad, I see quite a few of those rip stop nylon(I think that is the material?) covers here used for tractor, rv, car, boat protection etc. They are supported by metal poles. I haven't a clue what they cost, but I see lots of them so don't think they could be too costly. Maybe a call to your Home Depot, Farmers co op, Farm Home Supply, G.I. Joes, or something would get you some prices. Hope this helps a bit. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), March 31, 2002.

Speaking of scrounging used building materials I was reminded of one of my favorite sources back when I was starting out. I would take my old truck up to Pittsburgh for the regatta's "Anything that Floats" race. All those homemade craft go straight to the dumpster after the race. I would load my truck to overflowing with plywood and lumber, and often other unique items.

-- Walt K. in SW PA (kraterkrew@lcsys.net), April 01, 2002.

We built our whole barn out of salvaged lumber and pallet wood. We have maybe $400 into it, counting roofing.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 01, 2002.

What about a cheapo carport, wrap the 3 sides in fencing of some sort or sheet metal, and throw a gate with a lock across the front. Around here, a double wide (18x20) is $595 set up. One with all 3 sides done in sheet metal is around $1300 I think...

-- Eric in TN (eric_m_stone@yahoo.com), April 01, 2002.

Here's what I was thinking of doing for a barn/shed. find pallets. find poles. stand poles up at a pallet width apart. Nail pallets to poles. Frame a roof, with enough slope to shed snow. Stretch large tarp over structure. Short of having a crowbar, or an axe there wont be anybody getting in easily. The door can be made of pallets as well if you like, but might take different bracing, and it will be heavy. Hope this helps

-- roberto pokachinni (pokachinni@yahoo.com), April 06, 2002.

Pole tent. Almost all Tent rental and party rental companies have used tents for sale or free. Most tent rental functions(weddings, parties) require fairly good looking tents so after a few years they can't be used for that anymore. When I was in this business, we gave them away because we had so much excess. Quite a few were tents that had cost thousands, even 10k+ when they were new. The largest I gave away was a 60'x120'. It might have mildew stains but for farm shelters they work great. A properly installed tent will stay up for years.

Check around with these places. I always had tent tops, 100s of yards of astroturf and vinyl sheeting to give away and was glad for someone to haul it off. You won't get the poles and stakes with it but you can make those yourself easily low cost or from free material.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), April 06, 2002.

oops, I missed the 'lockable' part. That's a tough one there because not many structures are truly lockable if someone is determined to get inside it. Sea containers mentioned above would be the most secure but your tractor might not fit in one. You might be better off just building cover and then locking/chaining up whatever you want secure.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), April 06, 2002.